The staining/varnishing of the shells is probably the easiest of the steps but requires long wait times - which means your drums will be out of action for a few days. This is also the step where you can get creative. You can choose to paint them a solid colour if you wish, you can stain them for that woodgrain finish, cover in newspaper for that old school look or you could even paint a design on them. The choices are endless - but the most important thing to remember is that its not a step to be rushed. This page will discuss painting technique aswell as stain/paint choices.
There are many different stains you can choose for work on your drums - the most important thing here is the finish you want. I chose a 'natural wood' colour finish. I know of a person who chose a reddish finish and got brilliant results with that - I will also show pictures of his kit at the end of this guide. You can get all sorts of colours and its completely up to you. You could also choose a paint if you want a solid colour - but I don't think that would work aswell as the woodgrain finishes. You've spent all this time clearing up the wood and then your just going to cover it with paint. However if the solid colour is the look your going for then the steps will be exactly the same.
I chose Sikkens Super Natural Topcoat for Exterior Timber which runs for about $25 for a small can down here (Picture). While this isn't technically a stain it acts in the same way to a stain. I chose it because I saw the results when my Dad used it on a display shelf he made. It had the colour I wanted and I already had it available - which is the main reason I chose it. It says its for use on exterior timber - but that just means its resistant to the elements. It is detailed as a topcoat - meaning the wood should be treated with another of their products before - but after testing I found that wasn't necessary. I think its great if your looking for the medium light natural wood look.
TIP: Don't
mix water based and oil based varnishes/stains. |
For this step your going to need to prepare your paintbrush, stain/paint, a bottle of turps aswell as a work area and some rags. Start by reading the directions on your stain/paint. Make sure you fully understand how it works. Then you can prepare your working area. I did this by using two A-Frames with a barbell between them. You can use a piece of wood or whatever to bridge between the two - but make sure its clean otherwise you'll end up with dirt on your brush which then ends up on your drum. Not good. Fill up a jar full of mineral turpentine to clean the brush when your finished. Make sure you rinse your brush with water before you start.
Clean down your drums with a towel/rag to make sure there is no dirt/sawdust on them. Read the directions on your stain/paint again and follow them. Set the drumshells up and start to paint. For stains you can also use a rag to apply them. I personally didn't choose to do this but some people prefer it. When you paint make sure you use thin coats starting in the middle. Start in the middle and work out towards the bearing edges. Try not to get too much paint on the bearing edges - be very careful because if it becomes uneven it can ruin the drums sound. Joonas mentioned that its a good idea to use a light masking tape to protect the bearing edges. You can also mask up the holes so the stain/varnish won't leak inside your shell (if you use clear heads). While I didn't do this its very very good advice - so to all readers - mask up those bearing edges! I know you probably want a nice thick coat to get the colour you want now but that is not how this game is played. You do thin coats and let it dry for however long it required to dry. You then do another thin coat, and another and another until its the colour you want. If you rush in and do a thick/heavy coat to get the colour then the drum won't dry quickly, the paint won't be as strong, it will look terrible and the chance of ruining your bearing edges is heightened immensely. Don't forget to wash your paintbrush out in the turps when your finished painting.
Continue to do this all the way around for both drums. Like I have said before, its very important to take your time doing this. When you have finished you should have a finished product which looks something like the pictures below. If the pictures seem 'milky' this is because my stain has a milky appearance for the first 1/2 hour. When the 24 hours drying time has completed give the drums a light sand with your 160/320 grit paper to provide a surface for the next coat to adhere to. Apply the same ideas again - long strokes, take your time. Keep on repeating this paint, wait and sand cycle until you have the colour you want. Mine took two coats until the colour was reached - I recommend 2 as a bare minimum. Yours may take more. Make sure to wipe the bearing edges softly when you are finished each coat to make sure that there isn't blobs of paint on the very tip of the bearing edge. Also remember that the ends of the drum are covered by the rims so you can be quite liberal in removing the paint from the bearing edges - as it is very important. It is probably easier to just be more careful near the bearing edges. The below pictures show the shells after the first coat, and then after the second coat.
VIDEO
Above is a 500k video of how to apply the paint properly.
It is encoded in DivX 5.11. If you need the codec simply goto www.divx.com and download it there.
©Daniel Wright 2004